Rivet package



Oct. 4, 1938. H. N. HILL 2,132,296

RIVEP I PACKAGE Filed May 5, 1955 Patented Oct. 4, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a rivet package adapted to facilitate the application of rivets in any desired number to materials which they are to secure. It particularly concerns split rivets, and

gives assurance that such rivets will always be driven in the proper manner in properly spaced relation to each other and with the self-clinching prongs turned in the right direction.

The invention has particular utility in the riveting of woven fabrics which are likely to be cut and permanently injured by the driving of rivets therein. Where, for example, in joining the ends of paper drier felts or woven conveyor belts, rivets are employed and driven more or less at random, the rivet prongs often cut through the woven threads of the fabric with the result that after a certain amount of use the fabric areas immediately surrounding the rivets become weakened and permit the rivets to pull out. Besides its general purpose of facilitating the application of rivets to any structure, the inventive arrangement is such as to largely overcome this difficulty.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my rivet package illustrating one form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in cross-section of my rivet package corresponding to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my rivet package illustrating the advantages of the invention in the riveting of woven fabrics; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view'of my rivet package corresponding to Fig. 3 and illustrating particularly how a rivet is properly positioned by the inventive structure for driving through a piece of fabric.

To hold the rivets a strip of flexible material In is employed. The rivets H are arranged in proper relation, according to the use to which they are to be put, and detachably secured in such relation to the strip.

The strip may conveniently comprise durable paper, woven fabric, or any other suitable material. Where, as in the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated, the rivets are arranged in a single line, the strip may be quite narrow, but it will be understood that within the scope of the invention the adjacent rivets may be ar ranged in staggered relation or in several spaced rows.

If desired, the rivets can be made to pierce the supporting strip, but it is more convenient to cement their heads l2 to one side of the strip. A durable glue or other adhesive should be employed so that the rivets will be retained by the strip until they have been driven. After the riveting operation has been completed, the retaining strip may then be pulled off.

Regardless of whether the rivets'are arranged in one or more rows on the strip, it is important in attaining certain advantages of the invention 5 that the split shanks iii of the various rivets be so turned as to extend in the same direction transversely of the strip. Thus, in the embodiment of Fig. 1, all the rivets are arranged so that the slots I in their shanks lie in parallel planes crosswise 10 of the strip, with the result that the corresponding prongs of each rivet are similarly disposed.

It will be understood, of course, that the direction of the slots of the various rivets may also be parallel or diagonal to the edges of the strip 15 I0 within the scope of the invention. Once the rivets have been secured to the strip, the prongs of the various rivets will be held against rotation until the rivets have been set.

The purpose of securing the various rivets to go the strip in such manner that their split shanks extend in the same direction horizontally of the strip will become apparent by reference to Figs. 3 and 4. Where, as therein shown, the split rivets are to be driven through woven or other material [5, the prongs of the rivets are likely to cut the individual elements composing the fabric.

It is important, therefore, that the split shanks of all of the rivets to be driven be so turned with reference to the direction of weave of the fabric '0 that each of the rivet prongs will enter one of the interstices in the fabric between adjacent threads thereof. The rivets l6 and I1 are shown in the position in which they will be held by the strip ill, but the strip has been omitted for pur- 35 poses of clarity. The respective prongs of' each rivet will enter an interstice on each side of one of the woven warp threads i8, and as it is set will cause the adjoining warp threads and the adjoining weft threads I! to separate and make room for the penetration of the prongs through the fabric. This will best be understood by reference to Fig. 4. If, however, the rivets l6 and IT,

or either of them, should be turned so that their slots extend at a diagonal to the direction of weave 5 of the fabric l5, one or more of the warp or weft threads may be cut by the end or side edge of a rivet prong.

The assembly of the rivets in the embodiment of the invention of Fig. 1, with their slots extending 5o transversely of the strip, is particularly designed for driving a row of rivets along a line parallel to the warp of woven fabric. Depending upon the coarseness of the fabric to be riveted and the size of the rivets, the same arrangement may some- 55 times be employed where the row of rivets is to run along the warp of the fabric, but in the latter situation it may be desirable to secure the rivets to the supporting strip so that the slots therein extend lengthwise of the strip.

The rivet strip of the invention may be made up in any desired lengths in roll form. In use the first rivet on the strip will be applied and set in the material to be riveted. The strip may be then unwound and stretched across the material and each successive rivet may then be rapidly driven and set with the assurance that the prongs of the rivets will all extend in the same direction, regardless of whether the material is or is not of a character likely to be cut or otherwise injured by the rivets.

I claim:

1. The method of applying split rivets to woven material to be riveted which includes detachably securing a plurality of split rivets to a supporting strip with a space between the rivets on the supporting strip corresponding to the spacing the rivets are to have when applied to the woven material and with the prongs oi the various rivets similarly disposed so that the slots between the prongs oi the rivets face in the same direction, positioning the strip on the woven material so that the slots of the rivets extend in the same direction as the warp or weft threads 01' the woven material, and driving the rivets into the material and removing the strip.

2. The method of applying split rivets to woven material to be riveted which includes detachably securing a plurality of split rivets to a supporting strip with a spacing between the rivets on the supporting strip corresponding to the spacing the rivets are to have when applied to the woven material and with the prongs oi the various rivets similarly disposed so that the slots between the prongs of the rivets face in the same direction, positioning the strip on the woven material so that the slots of the rivets extend in the same direction as the warp or wei't threads of the woven material, driving one of the rivets on the strip into the woven material to provide an anchorage for the strip, extending the remaining portion of the strip along the woven material, and driving the other rivets into the woven material and removing the strip from the rivets.

HAROLD N. HILL. 

